by Helena Handbasket

Created on: February 08, 2009   Last Updated: February 11, 2009

If "herding cats" is not a joke but a challenge for you as a cat owner, rest assured that cat collars have kept up with the latest animal training technology. These time-honored animal behavior devices are now available for every situation, from GPS location of lost cats to restraint of natural feline predator instincts.

Prior to shopping, determine your cat's neck size with a tape measure. Ordinarily, one finger will fit loosely inside your cat's collar. An electronic cat collar should be tighter: both electrodes must contact the cat's skin.

Cat collars are generally .4 inches wide by 6-12 inches long. Good collars are not one-size-fits-all and indicate circumference adjustability ranges and recommendations based on your adult cat's weight. (You can also judge your cat as light, medium, or heavy by measuring how much skin covers its ribcage.) Buckle the collar based on where the ideal neck size appears within the collar's range. Ensure it adjusts for future growth of younger cats; or purchase both a kitten collar and an adult cat collar. Cats are most comfortable with collar and leash if trained on them when still young kittens.

Get the Right Cat Collar

While any discount supercenter provides cheap collars, many owners need personalized cat collars. The first use of any collar is leash or harness attachment; if catwalking is one's primary purpose, any ringed collar is suitable, though many cat fanciers like the branding available from designer cat collars. Attaching a collar bell to a "mouser" is also as old as Aesop, and still scares mice and birds away today, making your cat less likely to prey. The modern innovation is fancy cat collars with sonic frequencies that repel birds silently.

Cat collars also communicate identification and medical information. Engraving machines at malls and markets rapidly and cheaply create beautiful tags, informing everyone of your cat's name and contact phone number, to mitigate straying risks. Cats with special medical needs, such as feline diabetes or FIV, can obtain tags providing emergency instructions; this information can also be microchip-encoded and read by medical professionals.

Well-groomed cats often sport designer cat collars. Online retailers are likely to carry fancy cat collars that advertise your favorite sports team, logo, or color scheme, or personalized cat collars with your cat's name embossed around the neck. Cat bow ties and chinstraps facilitate your own "Cat in the Hat", if you desire. Roaming cats are better

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>